Self Care

Self-Care

Katiria

[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

Author Note

Personal Account of Self-Care

Self-Care

There are times when we all receive certain setbacks that mentally affect our physical and mental health. These setbacks can have some rather long-term effects that can define your personality for quite a long time. I have also experienced some of these setbacks at a very young age that had directed and defined my personality for a very time. However, due to sheer will power, there are certain improvements in my overall mental health. Since then, there have been certain accomplishments under my belt that has affected my mental health in a very positive way. My mental peace has enhanced my focus on many work routines that produced several accomplishments in my daily life such as graduation from high school and even buying my car from my hard-earned income.

These changes have gone a lot slower than they had come. But all my mental turmoil is the result of a series of factors that I have experienced in my childhood that had have affected my physical and mental well-being. The first that had been particularly difficult to overcome in the course of finding my way to mental well-being are the incidents of sexual abuse that I had experienced as a child. This is a very important factor in my mental illness as this phenomenon had affected my mental health for a very long time. I still struggle with this particular incident as its effects are still present on my mental psyche and I still work very hard to keep these mental scars from bleeding.

Another factor that had had diverse effects on my mental health is an accident I had as a child. This accident had permanently disfigured my face and left me with permanent scars upon my visage. This was also troublesome for me as the accident happened at a very young age and it messed up my face very awfully. Wherever I went, I would find people pointing openly at my face and discuss the scars on my face openly without even caring about I may feel at their blunt behavior.

Since then, I have found several ways to cope with the mental stress that I have continuously encountered CITATION Baq15 \l 1033 (Baqutayan, 2015). When it all becomes too much to bear, I climb behind the wheel in my car and take a long drive by myself or with some trusted friends that I have made recently. We visit a fast-food restaurant or any other place where we could eat and hang out. We also blast music on the car stereo as loud as possible and singing at the top of my lungs to drown out sorrows in the beats. Also, when I do not feel like driving, I often read books that act as my coping mechanism to escape reality CITATION Wat15 \l 1033 (Watson, 2015). I often sit separately from the crowd so that I can some time with my thoughts and access the actions that I have done or would have done.

For releasing my stress, I often make time for myself and do different things that make me happy and uplift my mood. I also try not to do unnecessary thinking about my future. I also try not to think about the things that cause my stress. So, far I have managed to keep my sanity by taking all the aforementioned measures.

We do not have to be alone in fighting our demons as I have done over the years CITATION Min17 \l 1033 (Minok Jung, 2017). We can outline a detailed plan with the help of several human services practitioners to help others in their fight against depressions and other mental ailments. We do not have to be alone in our fights against mental stress and depression, just as I have been.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Baqutayan, D. S. (2015, March). Stress and Coping Mechanisms: A Historical Overview. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2). DOI:10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s1p479

Minok Jung, W. C. (2017, December 20). Stress Relief Method and Depression. Korean Journal of Family Practice, 7(6), 837-843. DOI:10.21215/kjfp.2017.7.6.837

Watson, E. M. (2015, December 14). The importance of leisure reading to health sciences students: results of a survey. Health Information Libraries Journal, 33(1). doi:doi.org/10.1111/hir.12129